Lodging bookings: how an AI agent handles them from A to Z
A booking request that arrives on a Saturday night and gets no quick answer often ends up on an online booking platform. This guide follows, step by step, the path Alma, the Orvel agent for hotels, inns and campgrounds, prepares from the first message to a past guest's return, and states what she never does.
The principle: Alma prepares and follows up, your team decides
Alma is not a robot that runs your property for you. She is an assistant who answers booking requests day and night, drafts the messages, reminds guests and keeps the file up to date. Every rate, rule and condition she uses comes from what you set up in advance. What is not in your rules, she does not invent: she hands it off.
A file moves through seven stages: Request, Availability sent, Deposit received, Booking confirmed, Stay in progress, Stay completed and Loyalty. At each stage a task is created at the right time, and your team validates the decisions that commit the property.
Step 1: reply fast, even in the evening and on weekends
A booking request left waiting easily ends up on an online booking platform. The starting rule is therefore simple: as soon as the request is created, Alma replies the same day with availability, the rate you set and your cancellation terms, and she offers to book directly.
Take an example: on Saturday night the front desk is closed, and a couple with a dog asks for a room next week. Alma asks the useful questions (dates, number of guests, unit type), checks your availability and your pet policy according to your rules, then sends the reply. She also creates the file: dates, guests, unit, booking source and conversation.
- Questions asked up front: dates, number of guests, unit type.
- A reply based only on your availability, your rates and your rules.
- An invitation to book direct, by email or phone.
- The request source is recorded to tell direct bookings from platform ones.
Step 2: follow up without nagging
The availability message states that dates are only guaranteed once the booking is confirmed. Two days after it goes out, a polite follow-up asks whether the dates still interest the guest and reminds them that dates are not held without a deposit. A short text message can accompany the email.
If the guest still has not replied after seven days, Alma does not pile on messages: she follows up one last time or suggests closing the file. A waiting list by dates then makes it possible to offer a cancellation to the next interested guest.
Step 3: deposit, confirmation and pre-arrival reminder
A deposit confirms the booking. Alma does not confirm it alone: your team validates the booking and the deposit according to your rules. Once the deposit is received, she prepares the written confirmation: dates, unit, rate, deposit received and cancellation terms, so that everything requested, received and accepted is on record.
About three days before arrival she sends the welcome information: arrival time, parking, access. Guests almost always ask the same questions (pets, accessibility, meals), and a clear reminder avoids phone calls and unpleasant surprises. During the stay, a short welcome message recalls how to reach you.
Step 4: the post-stay review and loyalty
Two days after the stay, Alma thanks the guest and asks for a review. The message is neutral, whether the experience was positive or not, and it goes to every guest, with no benefit promised in return. Google's rules forbid offering a benefit in exchange for a review and soliciting only positive reviews.
The guest then enters loyalty. If an off-season offer is sent, it goes only to a guest who has consented to commercial messages, with an unsubscribe link. Before the next season, a past-guest follow-up recalls what they enjoyed about their stay and invites them to book directly.
What Alma never does
The guardrails are written in black and white. Alma confirms no rate and no booking outside your rules. She never comments on your property's compliance: classification, taxes and permits remain your responsibility, to be validated with the relevant bodies. She promises nothing in exchange for a review.
- Groups, weddings, meetings: she asks for the number of people, the dates and their flexibility, then hands off to a human.
- Complaints and delicate cases: immediate handoff to your team.
- No improvised rate, no discount outside your rules.
- No commercial message to a guest who has not consented.
Used well, Alma speeds up replies and forgets no follow-up, but every decision that commits you stays in your hands. This guide is general information: always validate your obligations with the competent bodies.
General information, not legal advice. Check with your professional order or the official source.
Questions
Can Alma confirm a booking on her own?
No. She prepares the confirmation and sends the messages, but your team validates the booking and the deposit according to your rules before the confirmation goes out.
What happens when a guest asks about a group or complains?
Alma hands off to a human. For a group she first gathers the number of people, the dates and their flexibility, but the proposal and terms come from your team.
How does Alma ask for a review without breaking the rules?
The message is neutral and sent to every guest after the stay, with no benefit offered in return, in line with Google's rules.
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